Weather Outlook for Weekend Is Clear and Crisp

The weekend should be a perfectly lovely, if somewhat nippy, example of fall in Southern California, National Weather Service forecasters said Thursday.

That good news is brought to you by a cheerful little upper-level ridge of high pressure over Idaho and northern Nevada that has kept the skies clear for the last couple of days and should continue to do so through Saturday night.

The high will weaken and clouds will begin to drift in on Sunday as harbingers of the second Pacific storm front of the season--due to hit sometime Monday.

It’s a little early to say just how much rain the Los Angeles area will get and, for now, all you need know is that what is immediately in store looks pretty attractive.

Highs in Orange County today should reach the mid-60s along the coast and warm to the low 70s inland, the National Weather Service said. The temperature should dip to 48 to 53 degrees at night.

Saturday’s high should be a few degrees cooler, and nighttime temperatures are expected to fall to the low 40s.

But clouds could start appearing Sunday, bringing lower temperatures and the possibility of showers, the weather service said. Highs Monday and Tuesday in Orange County will reach the upper 50s or low 60s, with lows in the 40s and 50s.

Resorts Ready for Skiers

Thursday high temperatures were 69 degrees in Santa Ana and 67 in Newport Beach. The nighttime low was 42.

There’s a good deal of snow left in mountain resort communities, where ski run operators--with the help of their snow-making machines--are gearing up for the first real weekend of the season. Temperatures in the mountain towns around the basin will range from high marks in the low 60s to overnight readings dipping down to around 30.

San Diego is in for a generally fair weekend, with highs near 70 and lows in the upper 40s.

Travelers heading north to the Bay Area for the weekend may find the weather iffy. Forecasters there are looking for that next wintry storm to start kicking up its heels by Saturday morning, with high temperatures in the mid-60s.

The immediate forecast for Las Vegas calls for fair skies, with high temperatures around 60 and lows in the 30s.

Tucson and Phoenix will be much the same--fair weather, but clouds drifting in Saturday, with highs in the upper 60s.